Time Not Wasted: Marley
by AngellaCrickett
Summary: Marley grew up hearing stories about her mother, how she bravely sacrificed herself to save her family. As she grows and learns more about the evils of the world, Rachel becomes an even bigger hero in her eyes, and Marley would give anything for just one memory of her mother. But as we all know, a hero never truly dies. Companion piece to Time Not Wasted, but can stand alone! AU


**Hello guys! **

**For all of my new readers welcome! This is a one shot to go along with my longer story Time Not Wasted ( those of you who have read it will recognize some of the things mentioned ) This story is told from Marley's point of view, as opposed to my story where it's Finn and Rachel. **

**You do not need to have read it to understand this, but I hope after you finish you will want to! Again, thanks to all my readers who got me to over seventy-five reviews, I hope y'all enjoy this! Don't forget to review!**

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Marley

I have lived for a hundred and ninety years, and yet I can still say that I have only had to live through three perfectly terrible days...

The first was November 22nd, 1963. We had all travelled down to Dallas, I had spent weeks convincing my Dad to go. I had been in awe of the man who was changing the world before our eyes. Even now I am convinced there has never been a more amazing President than John F. Kennedy.

The day had been warm, I had worn a big sun hat that I had seen Jackie Kennedy wear in a magazine the week before. I had caught glimpse of the two of them smiling and waving from the limo.

I remember hanging on to my Aunt's arm, both of us cheering and waving little American flags when the gunshots went off.

Then everyone was screaming. My Dad shoved his way through the stampeding crowd grabbing my arm, and he and Quinn pulled me through the screaming people.

I tried to push them off, I had screamed and cried and had my hands clamped over my ears to block out the cries coming from all the people.

Huge men in suits shoved there ways past us, trying to get to the car. I turned and saw for one brief second Mrs. Kennedy screaming as she clutched at one of the best men I had ever known, before my Dad dragged me away.

The second day had been much more recent. September 11, 2001. We hadn't even been in the country at the time. Puck and my Dad had been sitting around a bar in Glasgow when all the TV's had turned to news reports full of smoke and screaming.

When I had met up with them later, they sat grey skinned, and white knuckled staring up with horror as more and more reports came it. They had both been soldiers in the first World War, had fought for the very country that we were seeing fall apart...

We didn't leave the bar for another six hours. The people who ran it just kept it open, locals came in to see what the fuss was. They gave us a solemn berth, letting us grieve for our nation that was under attack.

Quinn had been gripping my hand tightly for an hour when I pulled away from her and went and sat next to my Dad.

Just like the day John Kennedy had been murdered, we were in shock. We were horrified at the true evil that existed in our world. I sat next to him, not wanting to say anything.

Not taking his eyes off the screen he put his arm around me. I leaned against his shoulder, watching all the brave men who risked lives to help. I looked up at his face, not knowing what to do.

After awhile Puck stood up, holding on to Quinn. He walked in a daze to the door, and looked back at us. My Dad had his eyes closed and his jaws clenched. I shook my head at them, and they left, giving me exhausted looks of pity.

I knew what my dad was going through, what events like this brought up in his mind...

It was all because of that third day. The third and by far the most terrible day in my life. I didn't remember it, how could I? I had only been a few days old at the time.

.

.

I had been about seven or eight when I realized that most families didn't have an Uncle Puck or an Aunt Quinn like mine did. Yes, all the little girls and boys my age had a Daddy...

I knew even then that I was different, at such a young age I had been carefully instructed that I was not to tell anyone that I was a Vampire. But this seemed to go beyond my diet and the fact I was stronger than anyone else.

Other children in my 1930's one-room wooden school-house were dropped off by smiling grown ladies who smiled, ruffled their hair and kissed them goodbye. I never saw how that was different from my Dad, Puck, or Quinn doing the exact same thing.

Then the children started to pick on me, make fun of me for my lack of a lunch, for my clothes... That were almost identical to all of theirs.

But one day I came home from school, absolutely upset. My Dad was still at work at his carpenter job. So when Quinn and I got home, I went straight to the living room, climbed into my Uncle's lap and asked him.

"Uncle Puck, why don't I have a Mommy?" The look on his face had terrified me. Quinn had dropped the plate with my snack on it, glass shattered around her feet.

I had been so scared by their reactions that I had burst into tears. Puck had scooped me up, holding me close while I cried. He shushed me and comforted me, but I was now aware of the fact that something in my life was different.

As soon as my Dad walked in the door that evening he knew something was wrong. I was still curled up in Puck's lap, sniffling. The moment I saw him I held up my arms and he pulled me into them.

I clung to him, my arms wrapped around his neck as I heard the whisperings behind me as my Aunt and Uncle filled him in. "Finn, it time to tell her." Quinn said, her voice low.

I felt my Daddy stiffen, and I just clung to him tighter. I could feel him shaking, I had seen him cry before, sometimes when I had gotten up in the middle of the night to get a drink of water I would hear him.

But this was different, I was so scared at this point. I started crying with him, and for a long time he just held me.

I remembered being this little seven-year old girl, sitting in my Dad's lap, feeling him take several deep breaths. "Marley," He started, but had to stop and close his eyes. I grabbed ahold of one of the buttons on his shirt, my little fist clenched tight.

"Marley, I know what you asked Uncle Puck today. Did something happen at school?" I nodded my head vigorously.

"Daddy, Katherine said that to be a real family you have to have a Mommy. She said that you don't get to have a Uncle Puck or Aunt Quinn," I gave a big sniff and looked over at the two of them sitting on the couch, their hand clasped tightly. "You have to tell her it's not true. We do have a family."

He shuddered again, lowering his head and kissing my hair. "Marley, you are so right my sweet girl, we do have a real family. But, Marley sweetie, you do have a Mother." I sat up straight in his lap, looking up into his face.

My face was scrunched as I asked "Why isn't she here with us?" I had discover that my perfect family was indeed not, and now there was a piece missing.

His face collapsed again and I did not like seeing my hero of a dad like this. "Because, when you were very little, some bad men took you and your mother away from me. But because she loved you so very much, she made sure that those men did not hurt you. She made sure that you were safe, she made sure you got back to me." My lip trembled as I stared transfixed at my Dad's face. "But those bad men hurt her, and she died."

I startled wailing again, I knew what that meant. One of my classmates had a brother die from influenza the year before. This meant I would never see my Mommy ever. Quinn was sobbing into Puck's shoulder.

"But Marley she loved you so much." My dad hugged me close. "She still loves you, she watches over you every day." He hugged me and held me close or for hours after that until I had calmed down.

.

.

But how could a seven-year old truly understand that her mother had been murdered? As I got older and began to witness and recognize the evil that existed in the world helping me to understand the hatred that had driven those men. Those two days, the assassination of a President, and the attempted assassination of a country, helped me understand what must have been in their hearts.

They also helped me understand her. How strong she must have been to stand against them.

That third terrible day, I couldn't even begin to fathom what she must have been through. That she had loved me so much...

From the day that my dad told me, I was always on alert for the angel that watched over me. _Rachel, _it was the most beautiful name I had ever heard. I would sing all the time, sing just for her. Anything to feel like she was still there watching me.

And I continued growing up. I was sometimes filled with so much guilt over the fact that I had a good childhood. I didn't even have memories of Rachel, of my mother. But I was loved, I was loved by the most amazing Dad in the world. I had an Aunt and Uncle that would do anything to make me laugh, encourage me. They did everything for me.

Somedays I was in complete wonder over how a 'normal' family was supposed to function, and other days I woke up screaming for my mother.

I wanted _something _that could tangibly connect me to her. My Dad had told me time and time again she would have loved to hear me sing, that my voice was wonderful just like hers. I treasured those complements above all others, and I worked hard to keep my voice as well-trained as I could.

But I didn't even have a memory, or a picture. My nightmares were different every single time, the only constant being the overwhelming scene that I was so afraid, and so lost. I was always hiding, and there was always a light that stood in front of me, that got dimmer and dimmer until it just when out.

It was then I woke up, crying. My Dad would be running in from the other room and no matter how old I got, would just pull me into his arms.

But time does pass, and I found my nightmares growing father and farther apart as I got older. The sadness and loss lessened, and I always kept an eye on my Dad. There was never anyone else for him, ever. He had loved her, and he would continue to love her.

We traveled around, never staying for more than seven years in one place. I continued to sing, now because it was my passion. Still every time I sang, in the back of my head it was always for her.

.

.

And now here we were, in the next new town, 2014. I could tell from the very first day that I was going to be another tough school. No matter where I was, no matter what I did, there were always those few who made it their mission to make my life a miserable affair.

I often wondered if I was cursed. If I had escaped the fate meant for me at that barn, so the torment and pain followed me around, trying to give me the end that they had planned.

Also, it had occurred to me that this may be the work of Quinn's family. I had heard the stories of the cloud people all throughout my life. The Melusine had Quinn, perhaps not cursing her because she was one of them. So they ignored her and turned to my family, cursing us enough to last throughout time. I would never speak these theories to her, I knew she felt so guilty and sad all the time that she had not been able to help my mother.

I would not hurt my Aunt this way, not the woman who had helped me with everything my Dad could not growing up. So I kept my theories to myself, and dealt with all the idiots that I came across.

Sure enough, my first day, not even twenty minutes after being at school. A tall jerk started picking on me, I just retreated into myself and hoped he would get bored.

What I did not expect was a girl telling him off as she pushed him away from me. I smiled with a pang as she introduced herself as Rachel. I couldn't avoid girls with the name, I had knows several over my life. This one though fit all the descriptions I had been told growing up, and it made me sad.

I smiled and was friendly with her all day, but tried to keep myself distanced. I refused to let myself turn people into replacements for the mother I had lost. There was nothing to replace in my family, I loved them and they loved me.

.

.

I was in shock when they told me the truth. The girl I had kept an arm's length apart in my heart was her. What was I supposed to do with this information?

It was her, it was my mother. I replayed all those moment over and over in my head. Now treasuring every second I had spent with her.

Growing up, even though I was sad, I had always though it possible to survive without her. But the hole in my heart had just been covered and forgotten was wrenched open and hurt like it was fresh.

I wanted to murder those men myself. How could they?! Why would they do such a thing to her?

She was here, the woman who had saved my life, the woman who had given me life. I now wanted to spend every second with her. I was transfixed, and suddenly upset. All of a sudden I was worried that she might not approve of the life that I had lived.

She didn't remember me, she knew even less about her life than I did. I saw how it affected my whole family and it scared me. She remembered none of her old life, she remembered none of her old family. One hundred and ninety years later...

My Dad, he was verging nonsensical. In utter shock that the woman he loved was back. There were still to many obstacles in the way for him, and it was tearing him apart. Quinn, who I had only ever seen cry three times before had cried with joy, pain, and every other emotion she could not express with her words. And Puck, he grew silent, another frightening rarity.

My mother meant so much to all of them. The fact that Rachel was there at the school, it changed all of our lives with in a single moment.

Nothing seemed to matter anymore except getting her back. Not school, not anything. But I had to go back, we could not afford at this moment stand out.

I paid no attention to my surroundings, ending up getting myself into trouble. I stood there as the small man yelled at me. If only he knew how insignificant he was...

But then the light stepped between me and danger, as it had always done in my nightmares. I shook, watching Rachel defend me. My hear constricted and I had to get out of there.

I only made if half way down the hall before I collapsed. It was exactly like I had dreamed for years and years. Only now it was real. I felt arms around me and knew without a doubt that it was her. I seemed to fit perfectly in her arms. I was having some sort of panic attack. I couldn't calm down, the injustice of her murder was driving me insane.

I just let her hold me for a long time. I wanted to look at her, to memorize every detail.

I wanted to hear her sing.

Then Puck was there and I ran off, terrified. She didn't know who I was yet. I could ruin this whole thing for all of us. But I was still in awe. I had just been hugged for the first time by my mother.

.

I had head the screaming grow closer to me. I had woken up from a dead sleep because of the noise that had crept into my dreams. I recognized all the voices, all of them. She knew...

Sprinting out of the room, I froze at the sight in front of me. Instinctually I clung to my Dad, as my mother sat on the floor with her face buried in her hands. Without him even realizing it, my Dad was shushing me, hiding me from her.

I hid against him, now knowing the screaming had been true, something had gone very wrong and now she was upset. She didn't want this remembered life, and that meant she didn't want me!

I wanted out, I wanted out of there now. I let myself be pulled away until one word cut through to me.

"Marley,"

I stopped, lifting my eyes to see her. I saw her red, tear stained face looking at me. Her eyes wide and clear. I took a step forward and saw countless emotions cross her face.

My family around me was all tense, trying to stop me to hold me back, as if Rachel would do something crazy.

I stood there as she looked at my face, both of us taking in every detail. Then she whispered to me an apology, _for what_? She had nothing to say sorry for.

In the next second I was in her arms, crying for all the words I could not say yet. She held me close, her arms shaking as she hugged me. One arm running a hand through my hair. We were both sitting, and I never wanted to let her go. There was something about us that fit, like a missing piece had been restored.

Things were still in shambles, they were nowhere close to being fixed. Still, the rightness of being comforted by her, I wanted her to hold me for forever.

I was back where I belonged, I was with my mother.

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**Well?! What did you think? This ended up being so much bigger than I had planned. Quite honestly, it's one of my favorite things I have ever written!**

**So if you liked it you should check out Time Not Wasted. It is all about the Finn/Rachel part of the story. You get more background, and more details about before Marley was born. You also get to see what happens after this ending!**

**Also, a huge shoutout to my friend Maddi, who made the art for this story, I let her read it and she came up with the perfect picture. It was better than I ever could have imagined! (She has made the cover art for every story I post!)**

**Please review and tell me what you thought! **

**Angel C.**


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